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Chief Justice Melville Weston Fuller and the Great Mustache Debate of 1888

Todd C. Peppers Washington and Lee School of Law, [email protected]

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Recommended Citation Todd Peppers, Chief Justice Melville Weston Fuller and the Great Mustache Debate of 1888, 45 J. Sup. Ct. Hist. 140 (2020).

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TODD PEPPERS

Over the long history of the Supreme previously declined appointments to be on Court, nominees to the highest court in the the United States Civil Service Commission land have been opposed for a variety of rea- and to be solicitor general. This time, sons. Often opponents are concerned about however, Fuller answered the call to duty. the nominee’s political ideology or compe- At the time of Fuller’s appointment, it is tency. Occasionally, allegations are raised highly unlikely that President Cleveland— about political cronyism. And candidates himself the first president to have a have come under fire for their religion. But mustache—anticipated that newspapers nominee Melville Weston Fuller’s selection around the country would argue about the launched a national debate that went to the propriety of a mustached Chief Justice. After very heart of what makes one qualified to all, the previous Chief Justice wore a long sit on the Supreme Court: whether a judge and poorly trimmed beard—albeit a beard should have a mustache. with a bare upper lip—throughout his time On March 23, 1888, Morrison R. Waite on the Supreme Court, and no newspaper had died of pneumonia after sitting for fourteen taken him to task.2 What difference could a years in the Supreme Court’s center chair. mustache without a beard make? The answer Approximately one month later, President was soon to come. nominated Fuller to be At first, Fuller’s nomination was met the next Chief Justice. A prominent and with praise and the national newspapers highly successful Chicago attorney, Fuller predicted a quick confirmation. Noting the was a life-long Democrat who had sported public comments made by politicians and a mustache at least since 1867.1 Fuller had editorial pages on both sides of the political FULLER AND THE GREAT MUSTACHE DEBATE 141

[He] is a slim, wiry-looking man, rather below the middle height. He has silver-gray hair and a droop- ing gray mustache. He dresses well, and is considered exception- ally good looking. His face is fresh and unwrinkled, his 55 years notwithstanding.5 The Sun did not further discuss Fuller’s mustache. Nor did it appear to see the dark- ening storm clouds ahead. Many local and state newspapers reprinted the Sun’s physical description of Fuller, with a few papers adding amusing comments about his weight (between 120 and 125 pounds) and his diminutive stature. “It is well that he [Fuller] will take time to get a gown made for himself before his installa- tion,” commented the Boonville Standard.“If he should venture to go through the ceremony When Melville W. Fuller was appointed to the Court in 1888, the press first made note of his diminutive in a gown borrowed from one of his associ- size, calling him “rather below middle height.” Then ates…the clerk of the court would best tie a newspapers critiqued his mustache. string to him when he gets into it or there will be some difficulty to find him afterwards.”6 It was Fuller’s hometown paper, the aisle, The Times reported that Chicago Tribune, that first reported that peo- “[s]ome of the most cordial words of approval ple were grumbling about the nominee’s mus- of the nomination have been found in the tache. “The greatest objection that has been newspapers that would naturally object to urged against Chief Justice Fuller is that he contrive objections to it” and that President wears a mustache.”7 The Tribune reassured Cleveland’s selection of Fuller “must be re- its readers, however, that the mustache would garded as one of the most fortunate selec- not be an impediment to Fuller’s nomination. tions made by him since he took office.”3 “This is an objection that could be easily The Washington Post echoed The New York removed. It need not stand in the way of Times’ assessment of the bipartisan support his confirmation, however, and probably will for Fuller, noting that one Republican senator not.” Concluded the article: “He will be even “spoke of Mr. Fuller in terms of admi- confirmed by a large majority, and without a ration almost of love.” Concluded the Post: close shave.”8 “confirmation by the Senate is assured.”4 Within a few short days, the New York The New York Sun also weighed in on Sun turned its full attention to the matter of the nomination. The newspaper sang Fuller’s Fuller’s mustache. praises, telling its readers that Fuller was “preeminent in his profession, is of unim- But it is evident from an attentive peachable integrity, and his private character study of MR. FULLER’S features is exemplary in every respect.” The article that their chief curve of beauty, ended by providing a physical description of their piece of resistance and their Fuller. point of support, is his uncommonly 142 JOURNAL OF SUPREME COURT HISTORY

luxuriant and beautiful moustache. disfigured his face” with hair on his upper In bristling reds, in car-driver lip.12 And the Herald-Ledger simply tried to blacks, in characterless browns or put Fuller’s mustache in perspective, writing yellows, this moustache would not that Fuller “weighs 125 pounds, with or be the thing of beauty it is. Its form without the mustache.”13 is good, but it is the grayish white While conceding the beauty of Fuller’s or whitish gray of its color which mustache, and admitting that “[t]o cut it raises it above the mob of plebeian off would be a positive disfigurement,” the and ordinary moustaches, and gives Leavenworth Standard reluctantly conceded it character, dignity, tone. This that “to wear it on the bench would do moustache in any other color would violence to the dignity of the court and would not look so handsome.9 be a shock to the reverend judges who have such respect for precedent.”14 Warned the The Sun rejected the claims by unnamed Standard: “It is possible that the senate will critics that “[t]he idea of a Chief Justice with want an understanding with Mr. Fuller about moustache is intolerable.” While conceding this mustache business before his name is that in the “good old times” moustaches taken up for confirmation.” The historical were only worn by military officers, and that record does not show whether the Senate tradition dictated that the upper lip of the Judiciary Committee sought such an “under- man occupying the center seat at the court standing” as it considered the merits of the must be clean shaven, the Sun reported that Fuller nomination. admirers of the “lovely perfection” of Mr. While the Kinsley Graphic did not of- Fuller’s mustache were raising their voices ficially take a position, it acknowledged and demanding to know whether “this fair that “it is generally believed that a Chief- pearl [must] be melted in the vinegar of Justice should not offend the legendary cus- custom.” In the opinion of the Sun editorial toms which pertain to his office—including board, the answer was a resounding “no.” keeping his upper lip ‘free from hirsute 15 Mr. Fuller, in all the glory of his adornment.’” And other Kansas newspa- robes, but dismoustached, will not pers reported that there was a “widely preva- look so well as he does with that lent conviction” amongst its citizens that while glory overhanging his mouth, the mustache should disqualify Fuller from 16 a shield and a benediction. We ad- assuming the bench. “It seems difficult vise him not to shave it off. to imagine a man with a dude mustache, and who answers to the name of Mel to Within days, newspapers across the be occupying a seat on the supreme bench country weighed in on the great moustache of the United States,” grumped the Oberlin debate. “Mr. Fuller’s mustache is kicking Opinion.17 Clearly, Fuller had lost the state up a great sensation at the north,” wryly of Kansas. observed the Atlanta Constitution.10 “Wash- Some newspapers challenged both the ington sticklers for judicial conventionality “tradition” of bare upper lips at the Supreme are troubling themselves very much because Court as well as the recommendation that they fear that the newly appointed chief the nominee reach for his razor. Referring justice…will not conform to the custom to the reports “that Fuller will be forced to which requires that there shall be only cleanly ‘shave off his big, beautiful white mustache’ shaven upper lips on the supreme court.”11 as ‘absurd,’” the People’s Press cited an un- The Rock Island Argus chimed in the next named but authoritative Washington insider day, claiming that “no chief justice has ever as evidence that there was no tradition— FULLER AND THE GREAT MUSTACHE DEBATE 143

Justices Stephen J. Field, Lucius Q. C. Lamar, and all sported full beards on the Bench prior to Fuller’s arrival. citing the beards of Justices Stephen J. Field, mustache. “Mel. Fuller’s mustache is a good Lucius Q. C. Lamar and Stanley Matthews quality for a Democratic politician—it shuts as evidence.18 What the Press failed to rec- his mouth.”22 ognized, however, was the seemingly critical On July 20, 1888, the United States distinction between a mere mustache and a Senate voted to confirm Fuller as the next full beard. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Fuller’s A few newspapers made aesthetic ar- confirmation, however, did not end the great guments in favor of the mustache. “Mr. mustache debate. Perhaps hoping to boost Fuller’s mustache is undoubtedly a thing of circulation by stirring the smoldering embers, beauty, and therefore a joy forever,” pro- in December of 1888 the Sun itself returned claimed the Lancaster Weekly Examiner.“If to the subject of Fuller’s mustache. This it falls a victim to the ‘barbarous shears,’ time, however, readers were shocked by the his fine face will lose some of its force Sun’s announcement that the Chief Justice’s and completeness.”19 The Lancaster added, mustache was “deplorable.” to its relief, that Fuller seemed inclined to The Sun’s new position on the Chief Jus- keep the mustache. The Fort Worth Weekly tice’s mustache rested on argument involving Gazette reassured its readers that changes in courtroom statuary and artistic composition. the nominee’s personal grooming habits were After explaining to its readers that a statue not to be feared, and that the future looked of an eagle with spread wings was located bright: “From under that silvery mustache directly about the Supreme Court Bench, will flow opinions worthy of that great court the Sun pointed to the similarities between in its palmist days.”20 this national symbol and the Chief Justice’s At least one newspaper appreciated the mustache. importance of precedent in resolving the judicial dilemma. The Wichita Eagle pointed The Supreme Court spread eagle to President Grover Cleveland’s mustache always was a most impressive ob- as precedent for Fuller’s facial hair. “That ject to the eye and to the imagi- settles it. Let him be confirmed.”21 The nation, and it would still be such Republican-leaning Jackson Standard had a if Chief justice Fuller’s deplorable political reason to support the retention of the moustaches were out of sight. The 144 JOURNAL OF SUPREME COURT HISTORY

The composition of the in 1890 showing a range of facial hair.

plain truth is that the decorative If the New York Sun’s intention was to and symbolic effect of the eagle’s spark a second round of debate about the extended wings is dwarfed by the Chief Justice’s mustache, its plan worked. In sweep and spread of the Chief Jus- the coming months, a flurry of new articles tice’s moustaches, immediately be- appeared on the subject. The tide of public low. The lines are precisely simi- sentiment, however, appeared to have turned lar, and the dimension nearly alike. in the Chief Justice’s favor. “Chief Justice There is no contrast to relieve the Fuller doesn’t look half as funny with his feelings of uneasiness and oppres- mustache and his silk gown on as people sion which every beholder must ex- thought he would,” the Fall River Globe perience, provided his eyes are at gamely reassured its readers.25 The Chanute all sensitive to such violations of Weekly Times reported that “Chief Justice 23 aesthetic propriety. Fuller is one of the most striking figures Given the similarities between the mus- in public life,” but admitted that the Chief tache and the eagle’s wings, the Sun won- Justice nervously “twists his mustache or dered aloud if attorneys appearing before strokes his fine flowing locks of white” while the Court would lose their train of thought. on the Bench. And the Atlanta Constitution Concluded the Sun: “This is not as it should reported that at a reception for the Chi- be. It detracts from the dignity of the tri- nese ambassador, former Secretary of State bunal.” The solution? Either remove the eagle James G. Blaine had the “scrumptious good statue or shave off the mustache, lest the breeding” to not comment on the Chief Jus- aforementioned similarities between the two tice’s mustache.26 In sum, the battle over the continue “bewildering the bar and distracting Chief Justice’s personal grooming appeared attention from the business of the court.”24 over. “None of the abuse or sarcasm aimed FULLER AND THE GREAT MUSTACHE DEBATE 145 by Washingtonians at Chief Justice Fuller’s before popular clamor.” And the Examiner mustache moves him a hair,” trumpeted the had a final warning for the Chief Justice: Chicago Tribune. if he shaved off his mustache, he would Yet only two months later, the battle be unrecognized when he returned home to resumed. The first salvo was fired after the Chicago “with a nude upper lip.”29 March 19, 1889 elopement of Chief Jus- At least one newspaper publicly blamed tice Fuller’s daughter, Pauline. Although the the New York Sun for the second round of Fuller family did not seem distraught by mustache mischief. “If the New York Sun the surprise marriage, some newspapers sug- doesn’t stop making fun of Chief Justice gested that the Chief Justice might shave his Fuller’s mustache, it will get itself disliked by mustache—perhaps as the modern equivalent all the young ladies in the country,” warned of wearing sack cloth and ashes. This time, it the Boston Globe. “They all say it is ‘just was the Star Tribune that leapt to the defense lovely.’ Our own opinion is that it is at least as of the famous mustache. handsome as the whiskers of the Sun’s office cat.”30 We fail to see what connection there In January of 1890, David J. Brewer is between Chief Justice Fuller’s joined the Supreme Court. A former mem- mustache, and the elopement of his ber of the Kansas Supreme Court and the daughter. A number of our con- United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth temporaries evidently believe that Circuit, Brewer took the judicial oath with because Pauline ran away and was a clean-shaven face “except at the chin, married, the Justice should shave off from which hangs a tolerably long beard.”31 his mustache. We are puzzled as to Alas, the “tolerable” beard lasted less than why this is so. Simply because a a year. “Justice David J. Brewer…has at girl married the man of her choice last sacrificed his imposing whiskers and is this any reason, that the high- he now appears upon the bench with a est judicial authority in the country smoothly-shaven face,”32 announced the Wi- should wreak his revenge on the chita Beacon. The paper characterized the atmosphere, and deprive the zephyrs former beard as “a truly Western cut. It was of their sport? Most assuredly not.27 confined in its growth to the chin, although But battle lines were again drawn. News- it was a little more ample and luxuriant papers across the country predicted the mus- than the Napoleonic style.” Explaining that tache was doomed because now the Chief a shaved face “adds to the dignity of the Justice’s Bench mates were pressuring him to owner, and consequently to the gravity of the shave. “Chief Justice Fuller, mindful of the great temple of justice,” the paper added that honored traditions of the court and yielding Fuller’s notorious mustache remained—as to the importunities of his associates on the did the “moth-eaten old plantation whiskers” bench, has consented to sacrifice his superb of Justice Lamar. As for Justice Brewer, mustache, the fame of which has filled two he made no public statement as to why he hemispheres,”28 sadly reported the San Fran- banished his whiskers. cisco Examiner. Noting that the “exceeding While momentarily silenced, in early beauty” of the mustache “excited jealousies 1890 the New York Sun made one more effort and arouses animosities,” the paper admitted to whip up its readers. “It’s lucky that Justice that it did not know whether it should “con- is blind,” observed the Sun. “If she were able gratulate the Chief Justice upon his sagacity to see Chief Justice Fuller’s mustache waving in consenting to appease” or “deplore his in the winds of eloquence at the celebration lack of courage in so readily falling down [of the Court’s centennial] she would stop the 146 JOURNAL OF SUPREME COURT HISTORY

David J. Brewer of Kansas shaved off his “Western cut” beard a few weeks after joining the High Bench in 1890.

proceedings while she beat her sword into a concern for the Atlanta Constitution involved razor.”33 table etiquette: “[i]t is hoped the chief justice Once again, the newspapers rallied to doesn’t drink buttermilk.”37 Fuller’s side. “Chief Justice Fuller’s mus- The Chief Justice was reportedly “keep- tache is again agitating the public mind,”34 ing a stiff upper lip” and sticking with his reported the Tennessean. “The abolition of mustache despite more public pressure as the Chief Justice’s mustache is one of the well as his fellow justices’ continuing de- reforms undertaken by the New York Sun.” mands that he shave “in the name of dignity The Tennessean reminded its readers that and impressiveness.”38 And the Saint Paul “it is nobody’s business except his [Fuller’s] Globe informed its readers that the Chief own whether he be bearded like the bard or Justice’s stubbornness was “all the more as clean-faced as a door knob,” at least as heroic” because he was receiving hate mail. long as the Chief Justice did not “allow his The Nebraska State Journal reported that mustache to absorb too much of his time and the anti-mustache “crusade” by New York attention.”35 newspapers, along with “an occasional spurt The Saint Paul Globe tried to remain of assistance from a side concert of provin- neutral. While admitting that the Chief Jus- cial editors,” had resulted in Fuller “receiv- tice “looks a good deal more like a cavalry ing threatening letters purporting to come officer than the presiding judge of the United from hard-fisted laboring men of the country States Supreme Court,” the Globe pointed threatening to ‘do him up’ in some shape if out that the undeniable fact that Fuller was he does not shave it off immediately.”39 One “certainly the handsomest man on the bench; example of these letters was published by the men and women agree as to that.”36 The chief Daily Globe: FULLER AND THE GREAT MUSTACHE DEBATE 147

sported a combination of a beard and mutton- chops) to find a razor. “Chief Justice Fuller is allowed to keep his flowing mustache because there would be so little of him left if they were cut off,”42 explained the Pittsburgh Gazette. “Justice Lamar clings to his chin beard because, if he should remove it, he would be doing violence to one of the most sacred traditions of the South.” Concluded the Gazette: But these two cases are excep- tions, as Mr. Shiras will undoubt- edly learn. When Mr. Brewer came upon the bench he wore a long beard which he was compelled to part with after a few weeks. Justice Gray is pointed to as a man who has broken through the rule, but the point is not a good one, for the only whiskers When Justice William Moody became clean shaven in worn by the Massachusetts giant, 1908, newspapers noted that the Court now stood “5- legally and physically, consists of 4 on whiskers.” He is pictured here in 1905, the year two little tufts under his ears that before he was appointed to be an Associate Justice. are hardly noticeable. The rule that Justices of the Supreme Court must Ef yer doant shave of that there hary part with their whiskers when they main on yer mout weal sea that yer assume their robes of office was doant have no eezy time. Do yer made after Justice Lamar’s appoint- ketch on? Wee’l shave it of for yer ment, and is an ironclad one, which pretty soon. Take worning.40 will be promptly called to the atten- tion of Mr. Justice Shiras.43 The Daily Globe concluded, based on Whether the rule was formally called to the style of writing, that “[e]vidently it was Mr. Shiras’s attention or not, his facial hair not written by Fuller’s colleagues on the remained. bench.”41 What is truly evident is that the We do not know what Chief Justice Daily Globe reporters had too much time on Fuller himself thought of the great mustache their hands and were having a bit of fun at the debate, but he must have been pleased when Chief Justice’s expense. another part of his face—his nose—was pub- This curious national anxiety on facial licly celebrated in 1891. In an article entitled hair was not limited to the Chief Justice “Statesmen’s Noses: Peculiar Probosces of alone; in the years following Fuller’s ascen- the Great Men in Washington and What They sion to the center chair, a few court new- Indicate,” the St. Louis Dispatch turned its comers found their own facial hair coming attention to the nation’s highest court. under public scrutiny. A clean-shaved did not offend sensibilities It is in the Supreme Court where you when he was sworn into office on January 5, find the big noses of Washington. 1891. But in the summer of 1892, newspapers Justice Fuller has The Nose Of A warned newcomer George Shiras Jr. (who Roman. It stands well up from his 148 JOURNAL OF SUPREME COURT HISTORY

cheeks. It sets off his classic features Fuller’s proposition to shave his mustache,” and makes his pale face almost announced the Eagle. “[W]e recognize the noble as it stands out in front of his danger involved in the sudden dislocation of leonine gray hair above his fierce the center of gravity in all great bodies.”48 silver mustache.44 This was the only time that physics was cited in support of retaining the country’s most The Dispatch saved its most lavish famous mustache. praise, however, for Justice The nomination of Oliver Wendell Harlan. “Justice Harlan has a head which Holmes Jr. to the Supreme Court of the would do for a model of Jove and his nose is United States was the final death knell to that of a God,”45 it gushed. The justice with the great mustache debate of 1888. Holmes the least god-like nose? That was Horace arguably possessed the grandest mustache to Gray, who possessed a “weak, fleshy nose.” ever grace the face of a state or federal court By the time Chief Justice Fuller cele- judge, a handle bar mustache that Holmes brated his fifth anniversary on the Bench in joked was “nourished in blood.” While the 1893, articles about judicial facial hair only Chicago Tribune grimly predicted that “[t]he sporadically appeared in national and state esteemed New York Sun will not fail to view newspapers. This was undoubtedly due in with horror the spectacle of another judge large part to the fact that the newest justices with a long mustache on the United States (Howell E. Jackson in 1893 and Edward D. Supreme Court,”49 the Sun’s enthusiastic en- White in 1894) possessed perfectly smooth dorsement of Holmes’s appointment made faces. The addition of Rufus W. Peckham in nary a mention of his mustache.50 The war 1896 and Joseph McKenna in 1898 was met, was over. at least when it came to their facial hair, with This is not to say, however, that the guns silence. forever fell silent on the topic of Fuller’s Rather than arguing about the propriety mustache. Even decades after his death, of mustaches and beards, most newspapers Fuller’s facial hair sparked comment. For simply “kept score” in terms of the justices example, when law professor John P. Frank and their facial hair. “Mr. Justice Moody has reviewed Willard King’s definitive biography shaved off his mustache and the supreme of the Maine-born jurist, Frank was a bit court now stands 5 to 4 on whiskers,” re- unkind regarding Fuller’s appearance. “His ported the Omaha Bee in the spring of 1908. appearance in the standard pictures always “That’s the usual division.”46 When com- seem to me to be a little unseedy,” wrote menting on Judge Horace Lurton’s potential Frank. “I suppose it could be ‘majestic’ if nomination to the Supreme Court, the Ot- you don’t mind unkempt hair and a straggly tumwa Tri-Weekly Courier blandly described mustache.”51 Professor James W. Ely Jr., him as a “small, white-haired man, with a another Fuller biographer, was kinder than white moustache.”47 No mention of offense Professor Frank—merely referring to Fuller’s to tradition or style was made. mustache as “distinctive.”52 One of the last stories about the Chief So what should we make of the Great Justice and “will he or won’t he shave” Mustache Debate of 1888? First of all, the appeared in The Chicago Eagle in 1894. fight over Fuller’s mustache, its aesthetic Apparently, another tired round of stories merits, and its alleged offense to Court had appeared about the Chief Justice and tradition was surely tongue-in-cheek. That the potential loss of his beloved mustache. being said, the motives of the main player The Eagle would not stand for such a de- in the drama, the New York Sun, remain a velopment. “We are opposed to Chief Justice mystery. At the time of Fuller’s nomination FULLER AND THE GREAT MUSTACHE DEBATE 149 to the Supreme Court, the editor of the hair to the Supreme Court appeared across Sun was Charles Anderson Dana. Although the country.56 Somewhere Melville Weston the newspaper was considered a Democratic Fuller must have been smiling. (Justice Scalia publication, Dana was a fierce critic of shaved the beard the following summer.) Glover Cleveland (who had once turned down Author’s Note: The author admits that Dana’s request for a political favor, thereby he has had facial hair for the last twenty becoming a life-long enemy) and the Sun years. He would like to thank Chad Oldfather referred to presidential candidate Cleveland and Margaret Stein for their review and as a “‘gross debauchee’ who would ‘bring his comments on an earlier draft of this paper. harlots to Washington and hire lodging for them convenient to the White House.’”53 ENDNOTES

It is possible that Dana’s distain for 1 Willard L. King’s biography of Fuller does not discuss Cleveland meant that all the President’s nom- the Chief Justice’s mustache, but the book contains inees would be guilty by association. Yet the Fuller’s 1853 Bowdoin College graduation photograph Sun originally praised Fuller’s nomination, of a bare-faced Fuller and an 1867 photograph of a and many of its articles about Fuller’s mus- mustached Fuller. Willard L. King. Melville Weston Fuller: Chief Justice of the United States, 1888-1910 tache were published after Cleveland lost his (New York: Macmillan, 1950): 23, 67. first reelection bid. And if Dana wanted to 2 I have not located any newspaper accounts written at rough up a Cleveland appointment, surely the time of Waite’s nomination that criticized his large the brilliant editor could have found more beard. compelling faults than a simple mustache. It 3 “The Next Chief-Justice: Popularity of Mr. Fuller’s is much more likely that the Fuller articles are Nomination,” New York Times, May 2, 1888. 4 “A New Chief Justice: Melville W. Fuller, of Chicago, simply examples of what Dana biographer Named by President,” Washington Post, May 1, 1888. Janet E. Steele calls the editor’s “playful 5 “The New Chief Justice: Melville W. Fuller of Chicago sense of humor.”54 Nominated to the High Office,” New York Sun,May1, And what about the mustache’s impact 1888. 6 on the institutional rules and norms surround- “A Pen Sketch of Mr. Fuller,” The Boonville Standard (Boonville, Indiana), June 1, 1888. ing the justices? Would it being going too 7 The Chicago Tribune, May 6, 1888. far to argue that Fuller’s brave stand blazed 8 Id. a trail for such mustached justices as Peck- 9 “Will He Shave It Off?” New York Sun, May 7, 1888. ham, Holmes, William Rufus Day, William 10 Atlanta Constitution, May 10, 1888. Howard Taft (who also wore a mustache dur- 11 Atlanta Constitution, May 9, 1888. 12 ing his presidency), and ? Rock Island Argus (Rock Island, Illinois), May 10, 1888. Not to mention the goateed Charles Evans 13 Herald-Ledger (Russellville, Kentucky), June 13, Hughes? If Fuller did have an effect, it was 1888. short lived. 14 Leavenworth Standard (Leavenworth, Kansas), May After the retirement of Hughes, no jus- 9, 1888. 15 tice other than Thurgood Marshall sported The Kinsley Graphic (Kinsley, Kansas), June 8, 1888. 16 The Voorhees Vindicator (Voorhees, Kansas), June 7, any variation of facial hair until the fall of 1888. 1996—when briefly grew a 17 The Oberlin Opinion (Oberlin, Kansas), May 28, full beard (one might also include the long 1888. hair and bushy sideburns worn by William 18 The People’s Press (Winston-Salem, North Carolina), H. Rehnquist in the 1970s, which prompted June 28, 1888. 19 a New York Times columnist to call him “Muster Fuller’s Mustache Go,” Lancaster Weekly 55 Examiner (Lancaster, Pennsylvania), May 9, 1888. “the hippie of the court” ). The sight of 20 Fort Worth Gazette, May 11, 1888. a bearded justice was so unique that, once 21 The Wichita Eagle, May 11, 1888. again, articles about the return of facial 22 Jackson Standard (Jackson, ), May 31, 1888. 150 JOURNAL OF SUPREME COURT HISTORY

23 “The Moustaches of Justice,” New York Sun, Decem- 48 Chicago Eagle, June 9, 1894. ber 28, 1888. 49 Chicago Tribune, August 13, 1902. 24 Id. 50 “Mr. Justice Gray Resigns: O. W. Holmes Succeeds 25 Fall River Globe (Fall River, Massachusetts), January Him in the Federal Supreme Court.” New York Sun, 2, 1889. August 12, 1902. 26 “The Best of Good Breeding,” Atlanta Constitution, 51 John P. Frank. “Reviewed Work: Melville Weston January 17, 1889 (quoting the Enquirer). Fuller by Willard L. King.” The Yale Law Journal 60 27 Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minnesota), March 23, (January 1951): 202, 205. 1889. 52 James W. Ely, Jr. The Chief Justiceship of Melville 28 “The Doomed Mustache,” Examiner, W. Fuller, 1888-1910 (Bloomington, Indiana: Missis- March 26, 1889. See also “Justice Fuller’s Mustache,” sippi Valley Historical Association, 1995): 10. Kanopolis Journal (Kanopolis, Kansas), March 23, 53 Janet E. Steele, The Sun Shines for All: Journalism 1889; Springfield Reporter, April 19, 1889. and Ideology in the Life of Charles A. Dana (Syracuse, 29 Id. New York: Syracuse University Press, 1993): 131. 30 “Notes and Opinions,” Democrat and Chronicle 54 Id. p. 95. (Rochester, New York), June 10, 1889 (quoting the 55 Warren Weaver, Jr., “Mr. Justice Rehnquist, Dissent- Boston Globe). ing: Relative Youth and Long Sideburns Notwithstand- 31 “Justice Brewer Sworn in,” The Evening Star (Wash- ing, He Has become the Point Person of the Supreme ington, DC), January 6, 1890. Court’s Right Wing.” New York Times, October 13, 1974. 32 “Wild Western Whiskers: The Hairy-Kari Sacrifice 56 “To Beard or Not to Beard: That’s the Question,” of Associate Justice Brewer,” The Wichita Beacon, Deseret News, October 7, 1996; “Scalia’s Beard Over- November 14, 1890. shadows High Court’s Weighty Agenda,” Cincinnati 33 “Seems to Worry Mr. Dana,” Pittsburgh Dispatch, Post, October 7, 1996; “Supreme Court – Scalia Shows February 1, 1890 (quoting the New York Sun). Up With a Beard,” Seattle Times, October 7, 1996; 34 Tennessean (Nashville, Tennessee), March 14, 1890. “Scalia’s Beard Raises Some Eyebrows,” Austin Amer- 35 Id. ican Statesman, October 8, 1996; “Scalia’s Beard Begins 36 “Fuller’s Military Mustache.” Saint Paul Globe,May Term’s Opening Session on Historical Note,” Milwaukee 18, 1890. Journal Sentinel, October 8, 1996; “Court Has New 37 Atlanta Constitution, March 9, 1890. Look – Scalia’s Beard,” Buffalo News, October 8, 38 Anaconda Standard, March 14, 1890. 1996; “Bearded Gentleman,” Times-Picayune, October 39 Nebraska State Journal, March 11, 1890. 8, 1996; “Justice’s Appearance a ‘Hairy Situation,’” 40 St. Paul Globe, March 11, 1890. Tulsa World, October 8, 1996; Tony Mauro, “A Beard 41 Id. on the Bench for the First Time Since ’41,” USA 42 “Don Cameron’s Big Contract: He Is Straining Every Today, October 8, 1996; “A Trend That Is Just a Nerve to Form a Coalition Strong Enough to Defeat Whisker Away?,” Rocky Mountain News, October 9, George Siras,” Pittsburg Dispatch, July 22, 1892. 1996; “Whiskers in the Court,” Cincinnati Post, October 43 Id. 9, 1996; “Hair Apparent,” Pittsburgh-Post Gazette,Oc- 44 “Statesmen’s Noses: Peculiar Probosces of the Great tober 10, 1996; “And He Smokes, Too!” Tampa Tribune, Men in Washington and What They Indicate,” St. Louis October 11, 1996; Tony Gabrielle, “Bearded Community Dispatch, January 4, 1891. (Emphasis in the original.) Gets Justice,” Daily Press, October 16, 1996. “On 45 Id. Washington—Rejected Nominee Blames Past.” Atlanta 46 Omaha Daily Bee, March 4, 1908. Journal Constitution, October 8, 1997. 47 Ottumwa Tri-Weekly Courier, November 2, 1909.